Internationalization:
rhetoric vs. real change
Internationalization is a term commonly heard on the street and in the Japanese media, but business people and educators are scrambling to adequately define it.
The word can mean a hundred different things to a hundred different people, according to one member of Sapporo's business community. Akiko Kimura of the Sapporo International Communication Plaza Foundation sees internationalization as a holistic, all-encompassing concept. The foundation coordinates international exchange activities in Sapporo, including the recent United Nations disarmament conference.
"In order to achieve internationalization in Japan, people must know about themselves, their history, and issues important to Japan, and they must be prepared to discuss them with those outside Japan," says Kimura. "The purpose of this is to be understood and to understand others. As Japan internationalizes, we better our economic opportunities and achieve more international cooperation."
For teachers, internationalization means striking a balance between satisfying the changing demands of society and fulfilling their responsibilities to students.
"Many high school and junior high school teachers eagerly teach students English, and some say that to master English is internationalization. But that is wrong," says Toshimi Kadowaki, a teacher in the English Language Department of Sapporo Kosei High School, one of Hokkaido's leading private high schools. He says learning English is simply a step toward internationalization, which he defines as building relationships with people from other countries.
Before becoming a teacher, Kadowaki worked in Saudi Arabia for Marubeni Sekiyu. There he worked with companies from nine different countries on a series of dredging and wharf construction projects. In this situation, internationalization came to mean understanding attitudes and work ethics among other cultures, something particularly important when negotiating contracts.
However, he says, "When money is involved, internationalization is very difficult."
When asked what is needed in schools to produce graduates who are prepared for the international workplace, Kadowaki says emphasis has to be placed on public speaking and negotiation. He adds, however, that nothing is being done now or even being considered to improve students' skills in these areas, as teachers must prepare students for university entrance exams.
"Exams take precedence over all else. It is our number one priority," he says.
While fulfilling this role, Kosei manages to send some 20 to 30 students to Australia every year, in order to help them experience another culture. Teachers do not believe that the deeply embedded examination system will be altered any time soon. Ken Takebayashi, also an English teacher at Kosei, explains that universities require some procedure to objectively evaluate applicants.
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Tokyo University, which Takebayashi says is often the first in the country to institute procedural changes, must sift through papers from 15,000 students who sit the school's entrance exam every year. Establishing an efficient means of evaluating communication and negotiation skills for such a large number of students is not likely to happen in the near future.
"Tokyo University is now considering implementing small changes in its entrance exam to test students' English communication ability," he says. "But it will take at least 10 to 15 years for other universities to follow."
Kadowaki agrees, saying that students have trouble looking to the future under the current system. "Many students want to be active [in becoming international], but with [university exams] it is difficult for students to have future dreams. If the system changes, school systems will change."